Available at Amazon.com
Director
Steve Bendelack
Cast
Rowan Atkinson……….Mr. Bean
Willem Dafoe……….Carlton Clay
The Movie
Sometimes a person can tell a joke and make an entire room laugh. Yet there’s always that one person who has to kind of chuckle along and act as if they joke is funny when they don’t get it. For Americans en masse, that joke has been the character of Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson). A character that gets into wacky situations and communicates mainly through gestures and facial expressions, the films involving him haven’t translated to American audiences the way they have internationally. Despite aiming the intended audience towards families with a “G” rating, the film series has been a large hit internationally while being outdrawn by a shockingly high number of films.
This time around Bean has won a vacation to France and has many wacky encounters there. He loses his passport, his luggage and nearly everything else he owns due to the usual shenanigans, ending up in Cannes after nearly ruining a film made by an American director (Willem Dafoe).
And for the last film that Atkinson has promised to do as Bean, it’s an odd choice because the humor doesn’t translate as well as in films he’s done in the past. Most of the jokes are easily foreshadowed and predictable; one can only look at the setup when Bean eats some clams to see what’s going to happen next. Its bad writing, but you can’t really blame the writers behind it.
Much of the problem has to do with translating quirky British humor to the masses, which admittedly is tough to do. Trying to keep up the same zany style of humor and keep it funny for anyone besides Bean-fanatics is a tough idea and most of the well has been drawn already. Atkinson may be the British version of Charlie Chaplin in his ability to use non-verbal communication but even his abilities have their limits. This isn’t a funny film or even a good one, but it’s seemingly a fitting end for Bean.
The joke’s over; Atkinson won’t have to wonder if anything was left in the Bean franchise. There isn’t.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Presented in a Dolby Digital surround with a widescreen presentation, the a/v aspect of the DVD is terrific. This is a film that has a lot of colorful surroundings and a vibrant soundtrack that come through wonderfully.
The Extras
Deleted Scenes are included and are produced with the same quality that the DVD is in. There are a lot of them, 17 in all, with a considerable run time as well. Most were cut for a reason, though one scene was featured in the trailer (Bean gets his tie stuck in a vending machine) is in here as well. They’re interesting but there’s a reason they were all cut.
French Beans is a making of featurette about the last film to feature Atkinson’s iconic character. Focusing mainly what they did in France, it’s an interesting look at what they wanted to present and how they did so.
Beans in Cannesis a look at the filming that took place on Cannes for the movie within a movie aspect of Cannes. Using a real life premiere, the production staff was able to piggyback their shooting schedule with it as well as be able to use the real life Cannes theatre to add more authenticity to the film.
The Human Bean is a look at Atkinson’s part in the film.
